Christmas only comes once a year!

Christmas is so great, we had to start our celebrations early! Nana and Bopa swung by and grabbed the kids on December 16th to start partying in Bend. Wish we could have joined them but Bopa survived a day with them on the slopes alone and Nana survived Urgent Care where she was diagnosed with pneumonia. :( Bad start. 

We joined back up a few days later - Daddy has a full two weeks off of work! So amazing! Of course I found out I had strep throat again. Nana and I made quite the pair! And Henry came with croup, which he then kindly shared with G and L... And of course the kids can't all smile nicely for a Christmas picture in their finest. Although, if I remember correctly, this one did turn out a lot better than last year's, even if G is chewing swimming goggles?

Ice skating! It's one of Ninnie's favorite things to do so we always try to when we we're together. J worked hard to learn how to glide backwards, M spent a lot of time on the wall trying to figure out how to skate on one foot, Dude got intimately acquainted with the ice, and G ... was G. Yes, she's doing snow angels. In the ice. And she tried to make snowballs. I'm not sure she really got what we were doing. 

Sick or not, ready or not, Christmas Eve arrived! And with it, the much-awaited, annual puppet show. It is pretty exciting.

And the traditional Christmas jammies. Thanks Nana and Bopa!

And everybody's up! All right, most are awake (G and L have been so sick - couldn't handle waking them when they were finally sleeping and breathing well). But one way or another, it is time. Can't keep everybody upstairs any longer. They were just all too eager to take the traditional Christmas morning on the stairs photo. Right?

Everybody was awake for the gingerbread man making though. We switched things up a bit (decorating cookies seemed easier for little hands than assembling full houses), but regardless, I think some people were still just in it for the candy! Not naming any names but there was that guy in green who puked rainbows shortly afterwards in the tub.

Pretty grateful for another wonderful, cozy Christmas with those we love. It was pretty much a miracle that it went as well as it did with all those germs that had been swimming around with all those people. It might've been a small miracle, but it was a tender mercy indeed.

Bean life science museum

We remembered having taken baby J to the Bean life museum before we left BYU. If memory serves, she was terrified of all the stuffed animals until she saw the butterflies. And then it was the happiest day of her short life. So naturally we wanted to terrify a whole slew of new kids!

Baby L wouldn't have even been a snack for that guy. And she was surprisingly unfazed. J and M's favorite display:

And Dude thought this bird was the most hilarious thing he'd ever seen. He could not stop this ridiculous laugh. That is until he turned his head and saw he was face-to-trunk with a giant elephant. He yelled, "WHA?" and froze. Love that kid. 

Zebras are such cool looking animals. G was slightly nervous. 

And seriously, the way they posed these guys was amazing. Really got dude's imagination going. The kid is obsessed with animals so he was basically in heaven. Almost as cool as if he could follow the Kratt brothers around!

Not so scared anymore. Just a ham. And a Cougar fan!

I know I'm a nerd but I just couldn't resist a staring contest with these guy. He looked so serious. The kids thought I was genius, which, of course, was the point.

And M with her all-time favorite animals.

Such a cool place! So glad we went!!

Portland Zoo

 We always have to make a trek to the Portland Zoo when we're in town! It's just too fun to miss. I still would like to know why all the paths are paved in that crazy hot black asphalt...and why there is an alligator. I hate alligators. Also, why do penguins smell so badly? Other than that, we enjoyed watching the bird show, seeing the not-so-baby baby elephant, getting distressed over the not-so-recent death of the ancient zebra, walking 10 miles to see every other animal that walks the planet and thus is in the zoo, and eating frozen lemonades. Those things are awesome.

 Oh, and last time we were here I looked like this:

Ah the difference 7 months can make. I prefer now.

Bismarck zoo

In Bismarck on a beautifully warm, sunny day? Kids have been good while we've run around trying to get all errands done in town? Parents exhausted but kids begging to do something fun? Perfect time to go to the zoo!!

Mom, can we have a wallaby?

It's so toot!

Even Baby L was happy to be there, even if a few of the animals did startle her (no more than her siblings do daily though).

And what's this species of animal called?

North Dakota fun!

 A sunny AND warm day? Time to head over to Medora for some good times with Nana and Bopa!!

They have the greatest playground ever there. Seriously love it. Even if you could lose a child or two there if you blink...

Then we headed over to the Teddy Roosevelt National Park while the weather held. The girls were working hard on passing off the requirements to be sworn in as Jr. Park Rangers (to be finished another day). Everyone else was just chasing prairie dogs. Except G. She was studying buffalo chips. "Hmmm..how do they feel? What do they smell like? How much taller can I be if I stand on them?"

"Then again, those holes sure are interesting too! Probably mostly because all the grown-ups keep telling me not to stick my hands or feet in them!" We're just no fun. However, neither are the poisonous spiders and rattlesnakes that can hide in the holes.

Look! Buffalo babies! They look just like cow calves. When do their heads go from tiny and cute to massive and hairy?

Time to hike to the second highest peak in the park! Those are some steep steps for tiny legs, even if the second highest peak is only so high.

Of course, it would be helpful if tiny legs would accept help instead of being all "I do it!"

Regardless, it's less trouble when you look cute in cowboy, I mean, cowgirl boots.

Ta dah! Even Baby L made it to the top!

 Is it any wonder this area is called "Big Sky Country?" Stay away from that edge kids!

Neener, neener, neener.

Blah! (Thanks to Dude, this is now what she does when you ask her to smile. Thanks a lot Dude.)

All safe and sound and having fun! Sure do enjoy exploring. And sure do enjoy having Nana and Bopa here!!

Happy Halloween!

Off to school for things 1 and 2! M said the wig turned out to be a bit of a problem at recess as the wind would blow blue feathers behind her in a trail. They were pretty proud to get to wear them though!

The littles and I then headed over to Story time at the library. A can't-miss for us these days. Smile guys (why does that never work??)!

Tad windy outside. I think we'll stick to the indoor events for the rest of the day!

 The highlight of the night was to be found at DSU's "Boo"Hawks (they're the Blue Hawks) Treat Street, although this particular part was traumatizing to G. It took her at least 20 minutes to recover from being so near the giant bird who's feathers we probably stole and glued to her head. To her, he looked angry. And she was terrified. 

And this is why it was the highlight. All the candy they got from the different offices and departments was great, the game rooms were fun, but the band room? They let things 1-4 loose on their instruments in the "Instrument petting zoo." It was awesome!

The only one that got dude to break out of his serious face he'd been wearing (I think due to the over-stimulation) was the trombone. He thought that was pretty sweet. A band student blew on it and he got to move it back and forth. Everybody else really liked the drums, gong, and xylophone.

But mustn't forget the girls' karaoke at the pizzeria. Epic.

 And here we are! A rare family shot! Is it just me, or does it look like Cooper's hat was photoshopped on? It was real! And perched atop a lovely headband of cat ears :) Such a good sport.

And yes, that is an announcement posted across my growing belly. Thing 5 coming soon! Sure seems like a lot when you number them off like that :) Hilarious to watch people count them off all night long, and then read my shirt and laugh out loud. Not sure if they're laughing with us or ...

Applefest 2013

Pink fire truck! What's better than that, I mean really?

Hay ride!

Not sure what it had to do with apples, but getting to "put out the flames" with a real fireman's hose was a serious highlight!

On to the petting zoo!

And Cooper's favorite picture of the day:

For the most part, daddy and baby G sat at a safe distance away and watched the others enjoy the petting zoo. We did bring her inside but she just shook her head vigorously at all the animals and the only reward I hot from trying to convince her to get closer was a bunch of animal poop on my leg.

And then balloon animals! Dude's first!

Baby G wasn't particularly patient. Big surprise there.

Not sure she knew what to do with it either but she is not to be left out if the others are all excited about something!

There were tears when some of them popped prematurely. We assured them we'd got pictures so they'd last forever, and then remembered we hadn't got one of M's so here's one a little late but not lost forever to posterity:

So happy. I think it was a silver parrot. Difficult to say but clearly very important. Overall though, such a gorgeous day! Not too many of these in our North Dakota fall! So glad we went!!